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"THEY" is what I have a complaint with. you said "THEY wrecked it". If you want pedantry. be pedantic about every word.

And as I've said, replace that with something like "it was totalled" instead if you want. It doesn't really change the aim of the point I was trying to get across and in no way did it l seem to say anything like I thought Cardiff were "involved". You're just causing issue to be a cock.

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Big headed, arrogant and not the sort of person to care about the English pilot, obviously that's just going off of how he goes about himself on the pitch which obviously isnt enough to judge someone properly

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Big headed, arrogant and not the sort of person to care about the English pilot, obviously that's just going off of how he goes about himself on the pitch which obviously isnt enough to judge someone properly

Think he donates the amount he gets for representing France to charity, or at least he did for the world cup which was around $500,000

Just saw this on the BBC website - it's not the full article, I've just cut and pasted the relevant bits:

Chairman Mehmet Dalman says Cardiff will be "honourable" with Nantes over the £15m transfer for Emiliano Sala and has defended withholding a payment.

Dalman confirmed the French club are threatening legal action, but they are seeking "clarification" on the issue.

Confirming the Nantes action, Dalman said: "Of course, if we are contractually obliged to pay them then of course we will. We are an honourable club.

"But if we are not - and there are some anomalies in that - then surely you would expect me as the chairman and guardian of this club's interests to look into that and hold our position. That is what we are doing.

"We are still in the process of gathering information and that process will be ongoing. And when we reach a level where we have enough information, I am sure we will sit down with Nantes and move forward."

Dalman says Cardiff are looking to get a full picture of events.

"They [Nantes] have asked for what they believe is the money due to them and there is a process and they have initiated that process," he added.

"What we are saying is, that we are not in agreement with that process given the extraordinary events that have taken place and the tragic circumstances. We are not making any positive or negative statements.

"We are simply saying, please understand there are a lot of questions which need to be answered and that is what we are trying to do.

It is a difficult situation, given the tragedy that occurred, but I am not quite sure what to make of Cardiff's actions over the transfer fee. Firstly, it was Cardiff that released to the media that Nantes had "demanded" the first instalment of the transfer fee, making Nantes to look like they were being insensitive in the matter.

Now it sounds as if Cardiff have been stalling while they "gather information", which I take to be looking for a legal way to wriggle out of paying a fee for the player they can never now benefit from.

Had Sala still been with us, I presume that they would have by now paid the first instalment that fell due under the "process' to which there Chairman refers. If so then the only way not to have to pay would be some sort of contractual clause, but I cannot see any club having a sale contract giving the buying club the ability to walk away from financial liability should the player die post sale,leaving them with no player and no transfer fee.

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Just saw this on the BBC website - it's not the full article, I've just cut and pasted the relevant bits:

Chairman Mehmet Dalman says Cardiff will be "honourable" with Nantes over the £15m transfer for Emiliano Sala and has defended withholding a payment.

Dalman confirmed the French club are threatening legal action, but they are seeking "clarification" on the issue.

Confirming the Nantes action, Dalman said: "Of course, if we are contractually obliged to pay them then of course we will. We are an honourable club.

"But if we are not - and there are some anomalies in that - then surely you would expect me as the chairman and guardian of this club's interests to look into that and hold our position. That is what we are doing.

"We are still in the process of gathering information and that process will be ongoing. And when we reach a level where we have enough information, I am sure we will sit down with Nantes and move forward."

Dalman says Cardiff are looking to get a full picture of events.

"They [Nantes] have asked for what they believe is the money due to them and there is a process and they have initiated that process," he added.

"What we are saying is, that we are not in agreement with that process given the extraordinary events that have taken place and the tragic circumstances. We are not making any positive or negative statements.

"We are simply saying, please understand there are a lot of questions which need to be answered and that is what we are trying to do.

It is a difficult situation, given the tragedy that occurred, but I am not quite sure what to make of Cardiff's actions over the transfer fee. Firstly, it was Cardiff that released to the media that Nantes had "demanded" the first instalment of the transfer fee, making Nantes to look like they were being insensitive in the matter.

Now it sounds as if Cardiff have been stalling while they "gather information", which I take to be looking for a legal way to wriggle out of paying a fee for the player they can never now benefit from.

Had Sala still been with us, I presume that they would have by now paid the first instalment that fell due under the "process' to which there Chairman refers. If so then the only way not to have to pay would be some sort of contractual clause, but I cannot see any club having a sale contract giving the buying club the ability to walk away from financial liability should the player die post sale,leaving them with no player and no transfer fee.

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Just saw this on the BBC website - it's not the full article, I've just cut and pasted the relevant bits:

Chairman Mehmet Dalman says Cardiff will be "honourable" with Nantes over the £15m transfer for Emiliano Sala and has defended withholding a payment.

Dalman confirmed the French club are threatening legal action, but they are seeking "clarification" on the issue.

Confirming the Nantes action, Dalman said: "Of course, if we are contractually obliged to pay them then of course we will. We are an honourable club.

"But if we are not - and there are some anomalies in that - then surely you would expect me as the chairman and guardian of this club's interests to look into that and hold our position. That is what we are doing.

"We are still in the process of gathering information and that process will be ongoing. And when we reach a level where we have enough information, I am sure we will sit down with Nantes and move forward."

Dalman says Cardiff are looking to get a full picture of events.

"They [Nantes] have asked for what they believe is the money due to them and there is a process and they have initiated that process," he added.

"What we are saying is, that we are not in agreement with that process given the extraordinary events that have taken place and the tragic circumstances. We are not making any positive or negative statements.

"We are simply saying, please understand there are a lot of questions which need to be answered and that is what we are trying to do.

It is a difficult situation, given the tragedy that occurred, but I am not quite sure what to make of Cardiff's actions over the transfer fee. Firstly, it was Cardiff that released to the media that Nantes had "demanded" the first instalment of the transfer fee, making Nantes to look like they were being insensitive in the matter.

Now it sounds as if Cardiff have been stalling while they "gather information", which I take to be looking for a legal way to wriggle out of paying a fee for the player they can never now benefit from.

Had Sala still been with us, I presume that they would have by now paid the first instalment that fell due under the "process' to which there Chairman refers. If so then the only way not to have to pay would be some sort of contractual clause, but I cannot see any club having a sale contract giving the buying club the ability to walk away from financial liability should the player die post sale,leaving them with no player and no transfer fee.

He has to ensure that any payments are made in conjunction with rules and regulations, not particularly palatable in a case like this, but he could be in trouble if he did not take due diligence in this matter.

He has to ensure that any payments are made in conjunction with rules and regulations, not particularly palatable in a case like this, but he could be in trouble if he did not take due diligence in this matter.

Have no problem with that at all, but why didn't he/theysay so back when Cardiff released details to the media of Nantes' "demand" for the first instalment?

I would have thought an "honourable" club would have contacted Nantes discretely and advised them of the Chairmen's obligations, with Cardiff being a public company, being the cause for delay, instead of releasing the details to the media, which then made Nantes look like they were being insensitive and the bad guys.

Presumably Cardiff had the sale contract checked by their solicitor, so wouldn't have thought it would take too long for their solicitor to say if their were any "anomalies" in the contract i.e. get out clauses, they could use to avoid paying.

To my knowledge, Nantes have made no comment in the media regarding payment, other than in response to Cardiff releasing details of their demand. In the circumstances I would have thought it would have been better for all concerned had the financial issues been resolved privately between the clubs - whatever the outcome. As it is, it is starting to sound crass and money grabbing, which goes against the grain given the tragedy.

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One can only surmise, but a contract will have a commencement date regardless of when it was signed by all parties, and if one element of the "arrangement" was no longer available at the commencement date of the contract then it could very well be unenforceable.

Not saying that is the case here, but the due dilligence Maesknoll Red refers to would presumably demand that every aspect of the deal was examined.

Cardiff City have contacted otherPremier Leagueclubs in an attempt to establish whether there may be grounds to avoid paying the full £15million transfer fee being demanded by Nantes for Emiliano Sala,The Mail on Sundaycan reveal.

Letters sent in the past few days by lawyers acting for the club request help in ‘fighting off Nantes’ legal claim’, according to one source. They ask clubs for assistance in ‘sharing your knowledge of Sala as a player’.

The correspondence from a Cardiff law firm describes Sala as ‘the player that Cardiff tried to sign’, phrasing which makes it clear that the club believe they may not have to pay all — or indeed any — of the record transfer fee.

Details of the letters — which Cardiff on Saturday confirmed were sent — emerged as manager Neil Warnock and chief executive Ken Choo arrived in Argentina for the player’s wake and funeral.

The Mail on Sundaycan reveal that Cardiff’s decision to approach Premier League clubs publicly linked with Sala is partly motivated by transfer broker Willie McKay’s admission in an email to the striker that he had sought to artificially inflate the price. McKay told Sala he had told the media of rival interest ‘just to stimulate interest in you’.

The club are seeking to establish whether there was indeed any interest at all from other clubs. McKay’s email to Sala listed Everton and West Ham as clubs he had linked the player to, though Crystal Palace, Fulham, Burnley and Wolves were also reported to be keen.

The Mail on Sundayrevealed two weeks ago that one club had been publicly linked to Sala simply on the basis of a text message being sent signalling the player’s availability.

A second club was bemused to receive the letter from Cardiff’s lawyers suggesting they had also been linked. ‘This simply isn’t true in our case,’ said a source. ‘We never had an interest in Sala. We didn’t even watch him play.’

But Sala is by no means the first player to have been transferred after being artificially linked with other clubs. This is one of the oldest tricks in the wheeler-dealer world of player acquisition. It is difficult to see how Cardiff can possibly cite this practice to avoid paying the first £5m tranche of the fee they had agreed with Nantes for the player.

Cardiff have said they will ‘do the right thing’ but have indicated they ‘first want full facts disclosed about what happened and the involvement of agents with Nantes in the deal’.

The number of brokers involved in the deal is also understood to have concerned them. Some at the top of the club only became aware of the number taking a cut afterThe Mail on Sundayreport which listed them. Cardiff want to establish what part each of those individuals played.

It is ironic that having released details of Nantes' "demand" for the first instalment of the transfer fee, which they (Cardiff) described as insensitive, Cardiff now seem to be on a fishing expedition looking for any and every way by which they can avoid paying what is due.

In addition to contacting other clubs as to whether they were approached about buying Salah, other articles suggest that Cardiff are looking to sue Nantes for negligence, the involvement of agents or to argue that the transfer was not completed as the players registration was not with the premier league.

When the tragedy occurred, everyone felt great sympathy with the club for the way they conducted themselves. As the story unfolds, it increasingly feels that they are callously trying every way to avoid paying what I suspect is their legal/contractual obligation, only because the asset they were happy to buy inconveniently and tragically got himself killed - a greater measure of insensitivity it is difficult to imagine.

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It would be great to expose the shenanigans of the agents. surely there are rules for inflating the price of something or someone? I would hope Cardiff pay what is due but the agents end up with nothing.

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It would be great to expose the shenanigans of the agents. surely there are rules for inflating the price of something or someone? I would hope Cardiff pay what is due but the agents end up with nothing.

If there was one good thing to come out of this terrible thing it would be the uncovering of dubious agent practices, practices that both clubs and players are responsible for allowing.

If there was one good thing to come out of this terrible thing it would be the uncovering of dubious agent practices, practices that both clubs and players are responsible for allowing.

2 hours ago, exAtyeoMax said:

It would be great to expose the shenanigans of the agents. surely there are rules for inflating the price of something or someone? I would hope Cardiff pay what is due but the agents end up with nothing.

Agree absolutely and as I commented below, hope this might break the "Emperor's new clothes" attitude that football seems to have towards agents and their activities.

On 08/02/2019 at 11:51, downendcity said:

The email exchanges seem to confirm what many of us have long suspected, i.e. that many agents have little or no scruples, are prepared to employ underhand and devious tactics - sometimes at the player's expense - with the sole aim of making and extracting as much money from football.

That Cardiff were to have paid a total of £30m, of which only £15m actually went to Nantes, makes this only the latest in any number of transfers where the slice of the fee disappearing to people who seem have done very little to justify their remuneration needs to be looked at, and action taken to better regulate agents in general, but the make up and distribution of transfer fees in particular.

A fundamental fact that I struggle grasp, is how a player's agent is remunerated by a club! If I employ an estate agent to sell my house, I don;t expect the purchaser to pay the agent's fee, so why does this seem to happen in football. In this case, it seems that McKay has "cold called" Sala, suggesting that he ( McKay) has created a market, by making false claims in the market place and as a result came up with the deal Cardiff. If McKay approached Cardiff to try and broker a deal to sell them Sala, why would Cardiff be expected to pay his, or any other agents' fees?

It seems to me that there is a lot of things around players wages, agents involvement and the like that is a bit like the Emperor's new clothes. All of us know it is ludicrous, but no one in the game dealing with these issues either recognises it, or is prepared to do anything about it.

When agents are taking as much from a deal as the transfer fee paid fort the player then the lunatics really are running the assylum!

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A livid Willie McKay on Monday accused Cardiff City of “trying to throw me under the bus” as the bitter recriminations over the tragic transfer of Emiliano Sala intensified.

The man who brokered Sala’s move to the Welsh club lashed out at their owner, chairman and chief executive, claiming they were attempting to shift blame for the striker’s death in a plane crash on to “an easy target”.

As exclusively revealed by Telegraph Sport, Cardiff are ready to launch a negligence claim against Nantes if an official report finds the pilot of the plane did not have the correct licence.

They are also prepared to sue McKay personally over his self-confessed bid to “create an interest” in the 28-year-old in what they consider to be potential price inflation.

And they have refused to rule out calling for the Football Association, Fifa and even the police to investigate the £15 million deal, on which they have frozen payments.

With Sala’s cousin, Martin Gatti, claiming at the weekend that the striker “was killed”, and his ex-girlfriend, Berenice Schkair, appearing to restate an earlier call for the authorities to “investigate the football mafia” over his death, the fallout over his plane crash showed no sign of abating.

McKay, who arranged the flight, came out fighting on Monday, insisting his “conscience was clear” and revealing he was “livid” over his treatment.

Accusing Cardiff owner Vincent Tan, chairman Mehmet Dalman and chief executive Ken Choo of “trying to throw me under the bus”, he told Telegraph Sport: “Cardiff City have shown no class at all.”

McKay had previously angered the club after releasing an email he had sent to Sala admitting planting “misleading” stories in the media about interest in him from teams including Everton and West Ham United.

He went further on Monday by providing Telegraph Sport with the contract between Nantes and his agent son, Mark, which confirmed the latter was due 10 per cent of any transfer fee – around £1.5 million.

The document also stipulates that McKay Jnr must “make every effort” to ensure the French club receive the full amount of that fee “as soon as possible”.

McKay confirmed, too, that he had spoken to the Air Accidents Investigations Branch about Sala’s fatal journey on Jan 21 and had produced a timeline of all previous private-jet trips arranged as part of the transfer.

This timeline, which he shared with Telegraph Sport, shows his son had organised and paid for two earlier flights to Nantes for Cardiff manager Neil Warnock to watch the striker and two between the cities for the player himself, the first for contract talks and the second for his medical.

McKay said: “The only flight everybody is talking about is the one that crashed, right? Cardiff knew everything [about every flight]. When are they going to come out and tell the truth?”

McKay confirmed none of the four previous journeys used the same Piper Malibu plane or pilot drafted in to take Sala back to Nantes to say his farewells before returning him to the Welsh capital.

Looks like Cardiff might sliding down on their backsides from the moral high ground they previously occupied.

They were happy to spend £15 to acquire a striker that could have made a difference to their season, and in so doing were happy to turn a blind eye to the various "awkward" ssues that might have got in the way of the deal going through.

Now the player has inconveniently died on them those self same issues seem to have become Cardiff's reasons for not having to pay any money to Nantes.

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If my memory serves me correct, I think this was done in the Dean Horrix case. City paid the full fee of £55,000 and Millwall donated a significant proportion of it to the Horrix family.

I think you are correct, but it’s not really the same .....Dean joined us and played a few games before his tragic demise....so there was never a doubt that we would have paid the transfer fee. Both dreadfully sad cases though, very upsetting stuff....

Is it these - this from a Daily Mail article referred to by another poster n this thread?

Cardiff are not asking FIFA, the FA — or the police, according to the most recent dispatches — to investigate any of their other transfer deals or negotiations.

They do not want them poking around in the six that involved Unique Sports Management, the company that counts Neil Warnock's son James among its employees, for instance. James Warnock is believed to have been involved in Cardiff business involving at least three players — Sean Morrison, Rhys Healey and Craig Noone — but the club seem happy enough with that.

They also do not appear to have a problem with Jack McKay, son of Willie McKay who helped broker the Sala deal, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract as a professional with the club in January 2018 despite enjoying a less than exceptional career.

McKay began his career at Doncaster — a club with which his father had been involved — before going on loan to Ilkeston, signing for Leeds, being loaned to Airdrieonians, signing for Cardiff, and being loaned to Chesterfield in the National League. Given Cardiff were third in the Championship and chasing Premier League promotion at the time of McKay's signing, this seems an excellent if unexpected break for a player who was already 21 and had scored just one goal, for Airdrieonians against Peterhead in the third tier of Scottish football.

McKay, by the way, is a striker. Since joining Chesterfield in the National League on loan from Cardiff, he has made two substitute appearances totalling nine minutes.

By happy coincidence, another of Willie's sons, Jack's twin brother Paul, was also considered good enough to be signed by Cardiff, at exactly the same time. He had also been with Doncaster and Ilkeston, as well as Gainsborough Trinity and finally Leeds, where he had played one game, against non-League Sutton United, in the FA Cup. Leeds lost.

This chequered pedigree, however, was enough to get him a contract until 2020 with Cardiff, the same as his brother. Paul is now on loan to Morecambe, currently 21st in League Two, where he has played 18 minutes across four matches.

I don’t think that’s the point or purpose of those referrals, just more widely that there are transfers which on the surface look very, very odd, about which CCFC directors never cared before, but all of a sudden now they are policing proprietary. Clearly lack of research re Bamba

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EMILIANO Sala signed a potentially invalid £15million contract with Cardiff City before his fatal plane crash, it has been revealed.

The Daily Telegraph reports lawyers have written to the football club this week confirming the signing was not fully registered.

Cardiff had said they would wait for the outcome of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch following the star's tragic death before paying Nantes the agreed fee.

But the contract has now apparently been revealed to have been non-compliant with Premier League rules and was returned for him to sign a revised one, before the horrifying plane crash.

The Sun Online has approached Cardiff City for comment.

This is said to have come to light after the Welsh club attempted to keep away from legal action from Nantes after freezing the payments, and as it builds a negligence case against the French club over the death.

The Premier League club had received a legal letter insisting that they cough up the first instalment of the club record fee or they face being taken to court.

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Is it these - this from a Daily Mail article referred to by another poster n this thread?

Cardiff are not asking FIFA, the FA — or the police, according to the most recent dispatches — to investigate any of their other transfer deals or negotiations.

They do not want them poking around in the six that involved Unique Sports Management, the company that counts Neil Warnock's son James among its employees, for instance. James Warnock is believed to have been involved in Cardiff business involving at least three players — Sean Morrison, Rhys Healey and Craig Noone — but the club seem happy enough with that.

They also do not appear to have a problem with Jack McKay, son of Willie McKay who helped broker the Sala deal, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract as a professional with the club in January 2018 despite enjoying a less than exceptional career.

McKay began his career at Doncaster — a club with which his father had been involved — before going on loan to Ilkeston, signing for Leeds, being loaned to Airdrieonians, signing for Cardiff, and being loaned to Chesterfield in the National League. Given Cardiff were third in the Championship and chasing Premier League promotion at the time of McKay's signing, this seems an excellent if unexpected break for a player who was already 21 and had scored just one goal, for Airdrieonians against Peterhead in the third tier of Scottish football.

McKay, by the way, is a striker. Since joining Chesterfield in the National League on loan from Cardiff, he has made two substitute appearances totalling nine minutes.

By happy coincidence, another of Willie's sons, Jack's twin brother Paul, was also considered good enough to be signed by Cardiff, at exactly the same time. He had also been with Doncaster and Ilkeston, as well as Gainsborough Trinity and finally Leeds, where he had played one game, against non-League Sutton United, in the FA Cup. Leeds lost.

This chequered pedigree, however, was enough to get him a contract until 2020 with Cardiff, the same as his brother. Paul is now on loan to Morecambe, currently 21st in League Two, where he has played 18 minutes across four matches.

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Hopefully BCFC will never be in such a position as Cardiff, but i'd be surprised if they would be the only club to act in such a manner.

They didn't used to do so because the likelihood of being out with injury was so high that the premium was sent high accordingly; so clubs "self insure" meaning they don't insure. I'm not aware of that having changed.

Way back I was working for a company that amongst other things insured against pop concerts not happening. The offered premium for Guns and Roses, owing to Axl Rose being such a spoilt brat he kept throwing gigs, was one third of the ticket sales equating to missing one concert in three. As that was typical.

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I don't think this disgusting situation should be added to the Sala tribute thread - but BBC and Sky Sports now reporting Cardiff are trying to get out of paying Nantes the transfer fee, saying he was not a properly registered player.

Why else did he tragically lose his life, if not to play for Cardiff City?

If Cardiff are really trying to find a way not to pay the transfer fee, I find this revolting. Would confirm them as the most vile club in the world.

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At the end of the day it’s a business & the fact it’s someone's life shouldn’t be taken in to account. As cold hearted as it sounds it’s an asset that was ‘lost’ and I can understand why they’re trying to get out of it.

It’s an absolute mess and I feel sorry for everyone involved, obviously and especially the family & friends, RIP.

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I don't wish to take anything away from the tragedy of the player and the pilot losing their lives, that is much more important than anything else.

There are a lot of things around the transfer itself that don't make sense and now Cardiff are claiming that he wasn't registered to play which sounds somewhat bizarre.

And without wishing in any way to be disrespectful, I am surprised that Cardiff did not have an insurance policy to cover anything that might befall the poor lad. He was, registration put aside, an expensive acquisition.

Yep, they were very very vocal about him being a CCFC player after his death. Don’t know all the legalities but how on earth can they claim he wasn’t a CCFC player when his signing was all over the media, it was officially sanctioned by the FA, and he was killed flying back to Cardiff to ensure he got to his first training session on time seems very very fishy tbh. Could get very dirty indeed and if I was a CCFC fan I’d be wanting us to just pay up and get on with it.

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Many on there are celebrating not having to pay with thumbs up emojis and laughter...

The same cardiff fans who held up banners saying 'once a bluebird forever a bluebird' etc

I have no idea of the legality behind it but if cardiff are trying to run away from the deal, when they took pictures of him holding up the shirt, sent out twitter posts welcoming him to Cardiff, and even described him as a cardiff player on social media, then that's not on